Facebook buys 9.99% stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore
Social media giant Facebook will buy 9.99 per cent stake in Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms Limited for Rs 43,574 crore ($5.7 billion), the largest FDI in technology sector in India. This will make the US-based firm the largest minority shareholder in the digital business of Reliance Industries Limited. Both companies announced about the deal in separate statements.
The deal will help Mukesh Ambani-led companies reduce debt, which have mounted due to its aggressive expansion of telecom business Jio. Reliance debt swelled to $40 billion as of September 2019. On the other hand, through this deal Mark Zuckerberg-led company seeks to make a strong foothold in India’s digital space, especially digital payments business where it competes with the likes of Paytm, Amazon Pay and Google Pay.
This investment by Facebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value ($65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US Dollar). Facebook’s investment will translate into a 9.99 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis, Reliance Industries Limited said in a statement.
Jio Platforms is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers under Jio brand, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.
Commenting on the deal Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, expressed hope that Facebook and Reliance would be a long-term partner.
The synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India Mission’ with its two ambitious goals – ‘Ease of Living’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ – for every single category of Indian people without exception.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd
“When Reliance launched Jio in 2016, we were driven by the dream of India’s Digital Sarvodaya – India’s Inclusive Digital Rise to improve the quality of life of every single Indian and to propel India as the world’s leading Digital Society. All of us at Reliance are therefore humbled by the opportunity to welcome Facebook as our long-term partner in continuing to grow and transform the digital ecosystem of India for the benefit of all Indians,” he said.
“The synergy between Jio and Facebook will help realise Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India Mission’ with its two ambitious goals – ‘Ease of Living’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ – for every single category of Indian people without exception,” he added.
On the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Ambani said: “In the post-Corona era, I am confident of India’s economic recovery and resurgence in the shortest period of time. The partnership will surely make an important contribution to this transformation.”
“This is especially important right now, because small businesses are the core of every economy and they need our support. India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses. This is something we can help with — and that’s why we’re partnering with Jio to help people and businesses in India create new opportunities,”
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook
India is the biggest market for Facebook in terms of subscribers. Facebook has 32.8 crore monthly active users. Facebook owned messaging app WhatsApp has around 40 crore users in India, much higher than the entire population of the United States where Facebook is headquartered. The partnership with Reliance will help Zuckerberg-led company in providing digital business to MSMEs.
“Facebook is teaming up with Jio Platforms — we’re making a financial investment, and more than that, we’re committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said in a post at the social media site that he run.
He said India is home to the largest communities on Facebook and WhatsApp, and a lot of talented entrepreneurs. “The country is in the middle of a major digital transformation and organizations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indian people and small businesses online.”
“This is especially important right now, because small businesses are the core of every economy and they need our support. India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses. This is something we can help with — and that’s why we’re partnering with Jio to help people and businesses in India create new opportunities,” Zuckerberg added.
The partnership assumes special significance for India in the wake of the severe disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the Indian — and the global — economy. In the post COVID era, comprehensive digitalisation will be an absolute necessity for revitalisation of the Indian economy.
Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Limited (“Reliance Retail”) and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail’s New Commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp. WhatsApp already plays an important role in helping people and businesses connect in India. Reliance Retail’s New Commerce platform, JioMart, is being built in partnership with millions of small merchants and kirana shops to empower them to better serve the needs of Indian consumers. The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp.
(Gyanendra Keshri is Founder and Chief Executive, BiharConnect)
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